Balitmore news station is reporting that the hospital ship USNS Comfort is heading to New Orleans. To my knowledge this famous ship's last domestic deployment was 9/11. Where there is disaster and misery, so goes to the Comfort to provide just that. Update: Defense Department Press release about military assets being assigned to New Orleans area confirms the Comforts deployment.
Update 9/1/05: The Comfort is reportedly expecting a deployment order sometime today, with expected arrival in New Orleans sometime mid-next week. Current deployment orders are not available, but here are the ship's vital stats:
Operating Rooms: 12
Intensive Care Wards: 80
BedsRecovery Beds: 20 Beds
Intermediate Care Beds: 400 Beds
Minimal Care Beds: 500 Beds
Casualty Receiving Stations: 50 Beds
Total Patient Capacity: 1000 Beds
Length Overall: 894 Feet
Beam: 105.9 Feet
Draft Design: 32.9 Feet
Speed: more than 17.5 knots
Total Crew Accommodations: 1,215
Reduced Operating Status Personnel: 58 Navy Medical Personnel and 18 civilian Mariner
Tons of structural steel: 69,360
If the crew "hot racks" meaning the crew shares berthing and bedding space and if some other areas of the ship are cleared, the ship could probably take on a very large number of people--even serve as a transport for the sick and injured to take them to Houston, Pensacola or other locations where the infrastructure is capable of taking such cases.
In any respect, I have always had a great deal of respect for the Comfort, her crew and medical personnel. This is a smart move. The skipper of the ship needs to poor on the speed and get there as fast as he can.
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